Maybe a Blog

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Work continues on the secret project, though I can't say it's going fast enough for my tastes.

Get moving, guy!

OH WAIT - that's me.

(I keep pushing the due date because I don't think we'll get it done otherwise.)

So Mike and Mikki threw a little party this past weekend - it was a wedding, I think? Oh yes, it was a wedding. They got married. It was pretty cool. It was a ton of fun for all of us guests as well (Heck, I even wound up on the dance floor at one point - though it was definitely Mayra who was on her feet for the entire afternoon) and it was great to see everybody for more than one day at a time. It's too rare that we get together for more than an evening.

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Ted and I spent the day brainstorming for a new project. As soon as I can get Photoshop, or get the GIMP working on my PC, things should start looking up.

If this works out, it'll be a nice way to finally get back into the (creative) swing of things. The last time I did any serious artwork was a random sketch of Mayra back when I was still living with my folks a few months ago. The last time I did an real writing was even longer ago. It's going to take a while to get comfortable doing this stuff regularly again, but I'm really looking forward to it.

Monday, July 26, 2010

Life in the suburbs isn't so bad; There are things to do when I'm bored, and there's a decided lack of chaos when I want to relax. I've lived in the suburbs for my entire life (outside of the college excursion.) It's nice, it's simple, and I like it.

But man, have you been to the city? There are people and concerts and food and awesome.

I didn't really spend much time in the city until my college days (and since I was three hours from home, I was only able to take trips into Manhattan on long weekends or vacations), and even then it was generally just to go to a concert and then come right home. But things changed. Post-college I started an internship at a casual games company that had me taking the train in five days a week. Bryan had also recently moved into the city, so I'd hang out with him and he'd show me around every once in a while.

Then I started meeting college friends since it was the easiest place for everybody to go to. Then my friends started moving into the five boroughs. Then Mayra's friends started moving too. By this point my initial disinterest/disdain for the city had eroded into genuine enthusiasm. It's at the point these days where I'm thrilled to spend an evening eating at a whole in the wall, drinking at a dive bar, and wandering the streets.

I'm sounding like a regular member of the bridge and tunnel crowd now.

To go off on a tangent, I should mention that Bryan's a great guy. Have I mentioned this before? He is. One immediate (and related) example of how he's a nice guy is the way he's always letting me know that I can just crash at his place if I'm ever in the city. I had done it a few times when I was working down in Chinatown (I got a whole extra hour of sleep by doing that) but aside from those occasional times that I had planned ahead for, I never had any real crazy nights where I needed a place to stay.

Until the past couple of months, apparently.

On two separate occasions, I wound up having such a great time hopping around from place to place that I crashed at Bryan's when I had planned on coming home instead. The first night involved Dylan and I coming in for dinner on a work night and then hours later coming back home with just enough time to get breakfast and shower before going right back to work. The second night (weeks later) was a milestone, as Mayra was able to stay away from home for the first time in years. We got a little drunk at a party for her friends, grabbed some Papaya Dog, then stumbled back to Bryan's place at three in the morning. Needless to say, it was an awesome time (the morning after on the other hand...)

So anyway, last night Mayra and I were in the city for drinks with her friends yet again. This time, we were good kids and left early to catch the last train back home at around 1:30. And it kind of sucked.

And it's got me thinking: Why are we doing this? The night is just getting started around 12 or 1, and there's nothing worse than having a great time in the city and then having to dedicate an hour and a half to getting back home. Catching the train means missing the second round of drinks, the last act of a concert, or the late night snack. It means being the old folks who need to get home early (even if you still don't get home until late.) It means leaving the city that never sleeps and heading back to the city that went to sleep hours before.

Now I know I'm being silly - it's not like things are so bad here. My job is here. Many of my friends. My family lives here. I can afford the rent here!

And there are plenty of bars and late-night pizza places that are open until 4. It's not like the life of a twenty-something is boring here in the suburbs.

Monday, July 5, 2010

I picked up the Scott Pilgrim books about a month ago and have now read through them several times. They're really good! They're super fun and are big on the gaming references, so you know I like them.

For anybody not following the series, the basic summary is that 24-year-old Scott Pilgrim (of the frigid Canadian north) is in love with the mysterious Ramona Flowers, but they can only date so long as he defeats her seven evil exes. It's all very lighthearted and fun, but something's been bothering me:

He's seriously up to serial killer levels right now and not only does he show no remorse, but nobody else seems to care. It gets even more disturbing in Book 4, when we see Ramona hanging out with Roxie, one of her exes, and is even worried that she might be hurt when she falls off a balcony. Yet, not five pages later, Scott's chopped Roxie in half (and she explodes into a pile of bunnies.)

I get that it's all done in a comedic fashion, but it's still kind of unsettling. Everybody seems pretty okay with all these hipster kids killing each other. It's like some sort of weird spin-off of Battle Royal or something.

Regardless, I'm super-psyched and really looking forward to both the last volume (Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour) and the upcoming movie. They're going to be awesome.

Monday, May 31, 2010

The new apartment is mostly set up. I've got the internet connected to my many devices and I just bought a second room fan so that I don't have to keep carrying around my old dorm fan when I move from room to room.

Still some maintenance issues that need to get fixed, and I have to finally set up my computer desk so I can start using my desktop PC again. The netbook is good for 85% of my computer usage, but I haven't done any PC gaming or art since I've transitioned over to it (for obvious reasons.) Plus, the netbook is so easy to just jump on that I find myself wasting way more time on it than I should. I might have to lock it up and force myself to think about whether or not I want to bother booting up the desktop whenever I decide to use the computer.

So anyway, I just popped in TMNT (the CGI Ninja Turtles movie from a few years back - found it for $5 at Target) and even though I heard lots of terrible reviews, I can't help but be a little excited. It's the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! In fact, it's a pretty goofy version (from what I can tell)! We'll just have to see.

(Even if the move does suck, it at least gave us the pretty awesome GBA game based on it.)

Ah well.

Cowabunga, dudes.

EDIT (12:59 AM) - Okay, that was a ton of fun and totally worth $5. Now I kind of wish there was going to be a sequel like they suggest in the ending, but I'm sure the upcoming Nickelodeon TV series will scratch that itch well enough.

Sunday, May 23, 2010

So I just moved into my new apartment last weekend. All things considered, it went very well. Sure, I didn't have a bed until Tuesday and I only just got my internet hooked up, but I managed to find a couch, rug, and coffee table at a yard sale the day I was moving.

I've got a one bedroom only a couple blocks from everywhere I tend to go in WP, so I definitely lucked out.

Now if I could just take care of the various other problems (cracked toilet tank, busted burners on the stove, minor ant problem in the bathroom, dead outlets, etc), this place would move up in rank from "Pretty cool" to "Awesome Times, Inc."

I'd go into things a bit more, but I'm afraid I'll be wimping out with a tiny intro once again. I'm in the middle of wiping and reloading my Zune*, downloading a few new WiiWare games**, and doing my internet browsing, but all that's about to drop off to the side because I've got Super Mario Galaxy 2 sitting in front of me waiting to be played. If you know me, you know I practically worship at the church of the first Super Mario Galaxy, so this second coming brings along high expectations. The current opinions suggests I will not be let down.

*(To remove all the absurd song repeats among other Zune library issues)